Denial of evidence

Suppression of evidence

Nature

Denial of evidence is a cognitive and rhetorical problem where individuals or groups reject or ignore empirical data, scientific findings, or factual information that contradicts their beliefs, opinions, or interests. This phenomenon undermines rational discourse, impedes informed decision-making, and can perpetuate misinformation. Denial of evidence often arises from cognitive biases, ideological commitments, or vested interests, and is prevalent in debates on topics such as climate change, public health, and historical events. Addressing this problem is crucial for fostering critical thinking, promoting scientific literacy, and ensuring effective policy development based on reliable information.

Background

Denial of evidence has emerged as a global concern with the rise of scientific consensus on issues such as climate change, public health, and historical events. Its significance was first widely recognized in the mid-20th century, notably during debates over tobacco’s health risks. Since then, the phenomenon has been increasingly scrutinized as misinformation and ideological polarization have amplified its impact, prompting international efforts to understand and counteract systematic rejection of well-substantiated facts.

Incidence

Conflicting claims of experts in such recent cases as the tobacco/smoking controversy, the environmental depredations of acid rain, the health effects of long-term exposure to low-level radiation, the levels of safety of nuclear reactors, the health hazards of food additives and of habitual levels of consumption of specific foodstuffs, have all created a situation in which political, scientific and corporate groups consider it legitimate to deny the existence of any significant evidence in each case.

In the UK in 1994 a special inquiry into arms-related exports to Iran drew attention to a pattern of suppression of evidence on the part of ministers which effectively constituted an obstruction of justice and had nearly led to a miscarriage of justice.

Claim

Denial of evidence is a grave and urgent problem undermining the very foundation of rational society. When individuals or institutions reject clear, credible facts, they erode trust, fuel misinformation, and endanger public well-being. This willful ignorance stifles progress, enables harmful policies, and threatens democracy itself. We must confront and condemn the denial of evidence wherever it appears, or risk descending into a world governed by ignorance and deceit rather than truth.

Counter-claim

Denial of evidence is vastly overstated as a problem. People have always disagreed, and questioning so-called “evidence” is part of healthy debate. Not everyone must accept the same facts, and insisting otherwise stifles free thought. The real issue is the arrogance of those who claim their evidence is unquestionable. In reality, denial of evidence is not a crisis—it’s a natural part of human discourse and far from an important problem.